The University of Houston Libraries welcomes Emily Deal as the new English librarian.

Please describe your role at UH Libraries and talk about some of your professional goals.

As the new English librarian, I’ll be providing instruction, research, and collection development support to the students and faculty of the Department of English. I’m also part of the Liaison Department’s new Research Services Team, which provides support for emerging methods of scholarship, including digital humanities. I look forward to contributing to the new digital scholarship services the library offers as we evolve to serve the growing needs of our researchers.

Please share a bit about your background and interests. How do these inspire and shape your approach as a librarian?

I have a degree in English, but for the last five years I worked as the distance learning librarian at a university in Louisiana, so returning to work with an English department feels like a much-welcomed homecoming for me. Serving as distance learning librarian taught me a lot about being flexible and user-centered; libraries should be adapting to their users’ needs, not the other way around. Also, despite showing no aptitude for it whatsoever, I studied creative writing as an English student, so I’m especially excited to partner with the Creative Writing Program on the Poetry and Prose reading series.

Please describe your first impressions of the University of Houston.

It’s a vibrant, diverse, and forward-thinking community, and everyone here has been incredibly supportive and welcoming. I’m thrilled to be here. I’m also brand new to the city of Houston, and I love it. My favorite spot so far is the Rothko Chapel, and I love the Houston Ballet. I also like living in a city where it’s basically encouraged to eat tacos every meal of the day.

What is your favorite book/movie/cuisine/hobby?

I might have too many favorite writers to name, but I often return to Amy Hempel, Joy Williams, and Elizabeth Bishop. Some of my favorite books I read in the past year include Ottessa Moshfegh’s Homesick for Another World (I also loved her earlier novel Eileen), Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties, and Eimear McBride’s The Lesser Bohemians. When I want something plotty, I generally go for crime fiction. Natsuo Kirino is a favorite there, and yes, I’m always up for a trip to Murder By The Book.

It’s finals time at the University of Houston! Multiple exams and projects due all at once can be overwhelming, so your friendly UH librarians have offered some tips to help you survive the end of the semester. Happy studying!

Plan your study sessions wisely. If your final is a few days away, take time each day to study and review so that you’re not cramming the night before. Studying for a later final can also be a break between intensive studying for a final that is happening sooner.

Get rest and don’t ignore your health. If you need to set reminders to eat healthy or sleep, do so! Stay hydrated, and go easy on the caffeine, which can zap your energy and focus at high levels.

Take time for self-care. Work out, color, nap, take a walk, see friends, listen to music or podcasts, and take breaks in order to combat stress and fatigue.

Surround yourself with positivity. Study with motivated classmates, post sticky notes with affirmations in your study space, and reward yourself. If you’ve gone to class regularly, studied hard, and did well throughout the semester, you’ve got the final down!

Temporarily turn off notifications from your social media accounts or give yourself an internet curfew. The goal is to minimize unnecessary distraction.

Relax and take deep breaths. It is not the end of the world. The end of finals and winter break is just beyond the horizon; no matter what happens in the next week, you will be done with the semester when you reach the other side of it!

The library is here to help. Whether you need a place to study, take a break with our therapy dogs or Finals Mania, or if you need assistance finding those last few sources for your paper, we can help in a variety of ways for you to finish strong.

Castelán is a second-year graduate painter. He is interested in the influences of culture and society and how they impact the perception and interactions of people with others and their environments.His exhibit, Drawn Superstition, draws upon his Mexican ancestry and its animal mythology.

Angel Castelán’s art is on display in the William R. Jenkins Architecture & Art Library.

Artist’s statement:

Drawn Superstition

Being of Mexican heritage, I grew up listening to all sorts of superstitions, and naturally, the majority of these were about animals. Brujas turn into lechuzas to carry you off at night. Don’t let the cara de niño bite you, or you’ll die. The urutau and black witch moths are harbingers of death; don’t let them get you. Thus, it is no surprise that certain animals are rejected or even feared to the point that they are killed when encountered. However, when these animals, who are either endemic or have ties that date back to the Aztecs, are pushed into being endangered or even extinct in the wild, it becomes a major issue. Through this series of drawings, I aim to capture these animals as they would normally be encountered; without the corruption of superstitious lens.

University of Houston Libraries and the UH Women and Gender Resource Center will co-sponsor the January 2018 book club, which is open to all UH students, faculty and staff, and alumni.

January 2018 Book Club at UH

Readers are invited to gather at the Resource Center, located in the Student Center North Room 201, on January 12 at noon, to discuss Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant.

Newly promoted and tenured faculty and librarians at the University of Houston recently posed with their favorite books for the UH READ campaign. Launched in 2016 by dean of Libraries Lisa German, the campaign celebrates reading and supports the Libraries’ vision of a community nurtured by curiosity and creativity that drives lifelong learning and scholarship.

This year’s group builds upon an impressive photo display of faculty and librarians whose book selections represent a source of inspiration along their professional journey. These books are now available for check-out, and the photos appear on the first and second floors of the MD Anderson Library.

The latest batch of photos will soon be added alongside the existing READ collection. In the meantime, they are available online.

Local organization Faithful Paws will bring certified therapy dogs to the MD Anderson Library for four days of stress relief. Drop in for petting, snuggling and treat-feeding with these gentle and friendly canines.

A new exhibition will open at the University of Houston Libraries in November.

Image and Imagination: The Art of Valentin Gertsman honors the life and work of Dr. Valentin Gertsman (1925 – 2013). Gertsman was a Russian-American surgeon who enjoyed a distinguished second career as a fine arts photographer. With an abstract and poetic vision, he explored a number of important themes, especially the architecture of Houston, his adopted home.

Often exhibited in galleries, Gertsman’s work appears in the collections of art museums in Europe and the United States. UH Libraries recently acquired his photographic archives, and to celebrate this occasion, UH Special Collections presents this exhibition of selected photographs from the art of Valentin Gertsman. The acquisition of his archives and the production of this exhibition were made possible by a generous anonymous gift.

The public is invited to attend the opening reception for the exhibition Image and Imagination: The Art of Valentin Gertsman. Please join UH Libraries and Mrs. Joyce Durfee Gertsman to celebrate this permanent acquisition to the Performing & Visual Arts Research Collection. The reception will be held on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 from 5 – 7 p.m. with the program beginning at 6 p.m. at the MD Anderson Library, Special Collections (second floor). Parking is available at the Welcome Center Garage or the Hilton. For special arrangements and to RSVP, contact Free Lane at 713.743.9650.

Posted on November 8th, 2017 by Esmeralda Fisher and filed under Announcements | Comments Off on New Exhibition: The Art of Valentin Gertsman

A new exhibit will open at the University of Houston Libraries in November.

Anarcha-Feminist Zines and Alternative Press of the 1970s

Anarcha-Feminist Zines and Alternative Press of the 1970s, curated by Nancy Agin Dunnahoe of Wild Dog Archives, celebrates a collection of 1970s second-wave feminist and anarcha-feminist works collected or created by Henry Weissborn and generously donated by Wild Dog Archives to UH Special Collections.

In the late 1970s, a sociology student and Yippie named Henry Weissborn organized the University of Houston (UH) Direct Action Committee. His underground D.I.Y. zines, Ultra and Wild Dog, explored sociopolitical issues such as civil disobedience, LGBTQ rights, feminism, and a new counterculture called punk. Weissborn also contributed to other independent activist publications, including the inaugural issue of Bread & Roses (1978), the UH Feminists Newsletter. “Patriarchy is a destructive, culturally embedded force, and a revolution in consciousness is a prerequisite for its elimination,” he wrote in Bread & Roses.

This collection of zines and alternative press periodicals represents a movement toward equality, which has yet to be fully realized in 2017. Selected works from the collection will be on display during the 40th anniversary of the 1977 National Women’s Conference as a tribute to the writers, reviewers, theorists, activists, organizers, and consciousness-raising groups of the second wave who strove for equal representation and a revolution of human rights.

The exhibit will be on display from November 5 through November 12 near Special Collections on the second floor of MD Anderson Library. For more information, contact Mary Manning at 713.743.5893.

Posted on October 31st, 2017 by Esmeralda Fisher and filed under Announcements | Comments Off on New Exhibit: Anarcha-Feminist Zines and Alternative Press of the 1970s

University of Houston Libraries offers Cougar Research Open Access Repositories (ROAR), home of the University’s Institutional Repository and UH Dataverse. ROAR provides safe, long-term storage for data and scholarship produced by the UH community and makes these materials widely available to researchers around the world.

UH Libraries makes it easy for you to post your work in Cougar ROAR. Contact the Cougar ROAR team for more information.